STORY EXCERPT

She didn’t scream, mostly because his arm held her so tight she could barely breathe. When she could inhale, she caught the scent of strong soap, leather, and horse. Then she heard the slight sound of a rattle.

Katherine Mason, wild-spirited adventuress, was suddenly very glad to be held and protected by a large man with a gun. She couldn’t see the rattlesnake because her head was jammed against his chest. Her legs dangled either side of his hip, pressing the junction of her thighs against his body. A deep, hot, throb began, radiating from the point of contact. They waited, unmoving.

It was so quiet she could hear the sounds of the men filling the train’s water reservoir and wood box. Finally, he let her slide down his leg. When her feet touched ground, he still didn’t release her. Instead, his fingers shifted. His hand ended up cupping her bottom. The heat she’d felt earlier was nothing compared to the burn where his hand touched.

“Is the snake gone?” she whispered.

“Yep.”

He returned his gun to his holster but still kept her tight. She cleared her throat.

“Aren’t you going to release me?”

“Nope.”

She struggled a bit, but he increased the pressure on her bottom. It brought the juncture of her thighs even tighter against his hot, hard, leg. The rubbing brought a touch of relief to her ache. It also made her want more.

“Let me go or I’ll scream,” she said with as much composure as she could manage.

“Nah, ya won’t do that.”

He shifted his hands, catching her around the waist and lifting her up and down as if weighing her. She suddenly realized she didn’t even know his name, yet he was touching her in a most familiar manner!

“What are you doing? Put me down!”

She placed her hands on his wrists and pushed, but it didn’t affect him in the least. She got up her nerve and looked him in the eyes. The crinkles around them suggested he was laughing at her.

“Yer jist a tidbit.” He frowned and lifted her once more. “Huh! Ya cain’t weigh mor’n a sack a flour. Y’ain’t strong enough fer a wife.” He shook his head and sighed. “Jist a bit of useless female fluff.”

He set her down, whirled around, and abandoned her. She stared at his back, gasping like a fish as he stomped back to the train. His big head rested on a strong neck above broad shoulders. Snug pants ended at the top of his boots. His wrists protruded past the coat sleeves. She blinked. His coat was so short that his posterior showed. In fact, the fabric pulled tight against his bottom with every step. Every time his long legs touched the ground the muscles of his bottom flexed. What would it feel like to touch—

She shook off the sight and gathered her wits. An unkempt, uneducated, arousing man had dismissed her as if she was no use. She liked the way his hands felt on her and wanted more. Yet he’d dismissed her as if her size was all that mattered!

Never before had she dared to talk back to a man, but she was going to tell him exactly what she thought of him. Before she lost her nerve she gripped her skirts in her fists, lifted them high so she wouldn’t trip, and hurried after him. She had to yank on his coat to slow him down.

“Don’t you call me useless,” she blurted, still yanking. “I may be small, but I’m stronger than I look. And there’s more to me than a body. I’ve got a brain as well. One that works!”

He stopped and looked down at her. His eyes stroked her body before he frowned.

“Y’ain’t got ’nuff sense ta see a rattler. And yer too small fer a big man.”

While her curves were wider than her too-slender mother, her bones were about the same size. Mama’s stomach was too nervous for her to eat much unless Father was away on a business trip. That was the only time she smiled. It didn’t happen often.

“’Spect you’d die birthing babies.” He shrugged. “No good fer a wife. I’d jest git ye trained and ye’d die on me.”

Caught gaping at his insults, she had to run to catch up with him again.

“I may be new to the West, but I can learn what’s necessary,” she informed him, rushing to keep up with his long strides. “I’m an excellent cook and housekeeper. And, though it’s none of your business, I’m the same size as my mother. She married a man your height and had five living children!”

He stopped suddenly, making her bump into him. He grasped her elbow to keep her upright. His expression suddenly shifted from one of disdain to challenge. He put both hands around her waist and lifted her once more. She tensed as he brought her close to his face. She avoided his hungry eyes, staring at the strong nose and full lips sandwiched between moustache and beard.

“Maybe ye aren’t useless,” he murmured, and brought her even closer.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Your turn, darlin’.”

“Me?”

He nodded. “You’ll be seeing more stars than the ones up there.”

He pointed up. She looked, surprised to see full night was on them. She shivered, suddenly realizing the chill. Zach knelt beside her. He cupped her breast in a callused hand. Erotic thrills coursed to the ache between her thighs. She arched her back to encourage him. Rusty fell to his knees and did the same. Their cocks twitched and hardened as she watched.

Perhaps a silent signal passed between the men, as they both leaned toward her at the same time. Hot, wet mouths touched her nipples. The chill disappeared in a blaze of heat.

They suckled, sending another jolt of need between her legs. More heat blossomed in return. She pressed forward to demand more. But Zach let go, and then Rusty. Their beards and moustaches scraped her nipples deliciously.

“No! Don’t stop now!”

Rusty’s familiar chuckle sounded forced. “Time to get comfortable.”

“But I’m—”

“He means it’s time we all got naked,” Zach said in a deep growl.

She gulped at the raw need on their faces. A need she recognized in herself. They helped her to her feet.

“We’ll put both blankets under us. Don’t think anyone’s gonna be cold anytime soon.”

Rusty spread the covers beside the fire before stripping. Hands tugged her blouse off her shoulders, and a warm chest pressed against her back. Rusty knelt before her. He rolled down her stockings and took off her boots. Zach undid her buttons and her skirt fell. For the first time in her life, she was naked, outside. It wasn’t her husband touching her, but two men she barely knew. She didn’t care. Her body was on fire and she wanted more.

Zach’s hands caressed her breasts, flicking her nipples with his thumbs. Rusty’s scratchy beard warned her before she felt his lips on her belly. His tongue added to the kisses, as if tasting her. She rested her head against Zach’s chest, closed her eyes, and let them please her.

Rusty’s kisses moved to her knees and started up her thighs. One leg, then the other, he slowly progressed toward the place that ached for his touch. She didn’t know what she wanted, but trusted they’d know, and give it to her. Her life before this moment never existed, nor did tomorrow.

No time. Only pleasure.

She squeaked and opened her eyes when Rusty lifted the backs of her thighs, bending her as if sitting. She flailed, finally putting her hands on his head. He separated her knees and brought his head between them. He inhaled, eyes closed.

Was he going to taste her, the way she had them? Yes! His tongue reached her first, licking the place she had no name for. She quivered, and then spread her knees further apart. Rusty groaned and tasted her again.

“Rusty likes licking your pussy and teasing your clit,” murmured Zach. He nibbled her neck. “Maybe even more than he liked your mouth on his cock. He gets to taste you now, but I’ll be the one sliding my cock in that sweet pussy for the first time.”

That was what she’d been told was a wife’s duty. To lie quietly on her back and take her husband‘s member inside her body for procreation. But this? This was no duty. It was like all the birthday and Christmas presents she’d never had, all rolled into one. This must have been how she was created, before her mother married. With tenderness and passion.

She lay suspended in air. Zach’s hands on her breasts, her back on his chest, and her legs over Rusty’s shoulders, kept her above the ground. Rusty looked up, her dark curls mixing with his beard. His eyes stared into her with an intensity she’d never seen before, on anyone. He pulled his mouth back and trailed his finger between her lower lips. Watching her eyes, he gently pressed his finger inside her. She automatically clenched at the intrusion. A slow smile crept over him.

“That’s it, darlin’. Hold my cock like that when I’m inside you.” He looked up. “I wish I’d brought a razor. Can’t get close enough to Kate’s puss without worrying about scratching her with my beard.”

“Try!” she gasped.

He laughed and dropped his head again.

When the explosion came, it was nothing like she could have ever described. She was reborn into a world with more pleasure than she could have ever imagined. She sagged, thinking it was over when Rusty let her wobbly legs down. He swept her into his arms and held her as Zach lay on their blankets.

“Time to sleep?”

Zach barked a laugh. “Time for you to let loose.”

“There’s more?” She looked to Rusty for confirmation.

“Darlin’, we’ve barely started.” He pointed his chin toward Zach. “You ride a horse so well, you should know how to ride Zach’s cock.”